In this Mexico focused special episode Ken and Ed take the first hour to discuss all the latest news, including the latest on SeaWorld Orlando’s Sesame Street plans, the rumors on the return of Ringling Brothers, and the retail tenants of Margaritaville.

Hour Two is filled with news and reports from one of Orlando’s biggest competitors, Mexico! An exclusive interview with officials from Mexico’s new resort Amikoo gives never before shared details on what this massive complex will include. Then Robert calls in and gives a trip report from his recent vacation at one of Mexico’s all-inclusive resorts.

Brian Saeger of Skywalking Adventure calls in to chat with Ed and Ken about recent news from Disney and Universal. The guys talk about rumors of projects in the works and projects being canned. Ken also gives updates on O-Town West, the future of the Church St. Exchange building, Florida’s attempted law to ban orca breeding, and the latest on gambling in the state.

This is a *mostly* spoiler-free review of Maze Runner: The Death Cure in 4DX format. This isn’t designed to a be a review of the movie as much is it’s a review of the 4DX experience for this movie.

Maze Runner: The Death Cure is the action-packed finale to the post-apocalyptic film franchise based on the young adult book series. 4DX shines best in science fiction films like Ghost in the Shell and Blade Runner, but Maze Runner seems to keep 4DX on a short leash, causing the film to shine but not the in-theater experience.

The opening sequence showed promise. The strobe lights used to accentuate the title reveal were a unique use of the effect but one that worked well. The strobe lights were used in other unique ways a few other times during the film.

With the film set in the desert and abandoned locales, it’s no surprise the fans were used for large amounts of the film. Numerous fight scenes used the air cannons, but their use in nearly every fight scene seemed to lessen the impact of their use. The same with the rumble effects in the seat. Of course, the seat themselves were strong in their use throughout the film. With everything from a bus to a train to dune buggies featured in the film, this is a great movie for the motion seats.

Without giving too much away, there was one scene where a bit of a surprise happens on screen. It was paired perfectly with the leg ticklers. Like the strobe lights at the beginning of the film, the use of the leg ticklers in this scene isn’t the typical use of this effect but was more than successful in its use here. One or two quick splashes of water did little more than remind viewers that the effect existed.

That, unfortunately, covers almost every single effect used in the nearly two-and-half-hour long movie. I noticed no scents, no snoap, no rain effects, no smoke, and the film was in 2D. Personally, I do prefer 2D for 4DX films but only because the 3D glasses get covered with the snoap and water. Without those effects having the film in 2D seems cheap. I understand that the film hasn’t been released in 3D, but that should mean the 4DX programmers have even more freedom in using effects like rain and snoap.

Even during action scenes where the screen was filled with smoke, the theater had none. Unlike other actions scenes that used snoap for more than just snow effects (like in Blade Runner 2049 where it was used to replicate thick smog particles) here, the effects just sat unused.

The effects used were timed perfectly and used in original ways, but with some few effects, the ones used felt old by Hour Two of the film. I see no reason why this film should pull those debating between seeing it in 4DX and DBox (which just has the motion seats) or even a traditional 2D screening. Wind effects and air cannons can only carry the experience for so long, and here they failed to carry it all the way to the final credits.

Overall, The Death Cure left many unanswered questions, but the one I have the most is why so many 4DX effects sat unused.

Artegon has a new owner with Trump connections and tons of cars, the Convention Center Wars heat up with Caribe Royale announcing plans to double their convention space, and Brightline has a deadly first week in operation. Ken talks about the good news and not so good news Haitians were given this week. Plus trip reports from Marvel Universe Live and Epcot’s Festival of the Arts.

On this episode of Orlando Tourism Report, Ed and Ken discuss the latest news including the closing of Green Meadows, the law making its way through Tallahassee that could hurt SeaWorld’s future, the future of beer advertising inside Florida’s theme parks, and the latest fight over Florida’s tourist tax. Plus Ken rants about the awful cast member response to broken monorails, Ed gives a trip report from Edison, and both discuss SeaWorld Orlando’s first Three Kings Day festival.